The present invention relates to clamping devices, and in particular, to a clamping device usable in a valving apparatus designed for remote-controlled dispensing of a foamable liquid, such as the apparatus disclosed in my companion application filed Aug. 28, 1978, Ser. No. 937,061, entitled "Valving Apparatus".
Describing very briefly the subject matter of the companion application, the apparatus disclosed therein includes a valve unit mounted on a valve fitting through the rotation of a nut in the fitting relative to the valve unit. The unit has an actuating lever shiftable to produce open and closed valve conditions. Attached to the valve unit, in a selected position relative thereto, is a pneumatic ram or pump operable, upon supply of pressurized gas thereto, to produce shifting of the actuating lever.
Also disclosed in the companion application is a clamp, or mounting unit, which is used as a tool in mounting the valving unit to the fitting, and used also as a structural element for supporting the ram at its selected position relative to the valve unit lever. This clamp, which forms the subject of the present application, includes a clamping portion for clamping onto the fitting nut, and an extension portion extending therefrom whereby torque can be applied to the nut in mounting the valve unit on the fitting. The extension portion is adapted to support the ram in the above-mentioned selected position when the clamp is moved to a position fully tightening the fitting on to the valve unit.
One important object of the clamp of the present invention is to facilitate coupling and uncoupling a valve unit and fitting in a remote-controlled valving apparatus of the type described above.
Another object is to provide, in a remote-controlled valving apparatus, a structural member which serves both as a tool for mounting the valving unit on the fitting, and as a support for a valve-actuating ram.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent when read in connection with the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and the accompanying drawings.